Mail box signal

ABSTRACT

A mail box signal device attached to a rural mail box which includes a resilient latch means which retains a flag in a retracted or extended position. The resilient latch means is actuated by the mail box closure means so as to cause the position of the flag to signify when the mail box has been opened by the postman.

United States Meat 932,453 8/1909 Easterling Inventor George Roeder Box 3931, Odessa, Tex. 79760 Appl. No. 841,316 Filed July 14, 1969 Patented Feb. 2, 1971 MAIL BOX SIGNAL 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 232/35 Int. Cl A47g 29/12 Field ofSearch 232/35, 34, 17, 1,45

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-Francis K. Zugel Azt0rneyMarcus L. Bates ABSTRACT: A mail box signal device attached to a rural mail box which includes a resilient latch means which retains a flag in a retracted or extended position. The resilient latch means is actuated by the mail box closure means so as to cause the position of the flag to signify when the mail box has been opened by the postman.

PATENIEB FEB 2mm 3S59L878 12m gamma? -14. g g5343g7 /14 /NVENTOR GEORGE K. ROEDER AGENT MAIL BOX SIGNAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Rural mail boxes are generally located adjacent a road or street and a considerable distance from the home with which they are associated. Postal patrons find it desirable to be able to visually determine from their home when the postman has delivered mail into their box. In order to save several fruitless trips, a patron will often leave the mail box door in the opened position so as to be able to visually determine when the mail has arrived, for the postman always closes the door after depositing mail therein. Using the opened mail box door as a signal of arrival of the mail is an undesirable expedient because the postman must drive his vehicle closely adjacent the box in order to conveniently deposit the mail therein. When the box closure means IS left in the opened position it extends into the path of the vehicle and often causes damage to either the vehicle or' to the mail box closure means. Should there be no mail delivered to the patron, the box will remain opened to the deleterious effects of the elements. Other patrons often place unimportant or unnecessary outgoing mail in the box and raise the conventional red flag, thereby signal ing to the postman that outgoing mail is present, whereupon he must stop, withdraw the mail from the box, and lower the flag. Hence, if the postman has no mail to deliver, a useless or unnecessary stop has been made.

In order to signify the arrival of the mail, it is deemed desirable to have a mailbox signal which is actuated into a visible vertical position upon the mail box closure means being moved to the opened position. Not only is it desirable that the signal means be placed where it in no wise interferes with the orderly delivery of mail, but also is easily observed from the patrons home.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention comprehends a mail box signal which is easily attached to a bottom wall member of the mail box and which is actuated upon the mail box closure means being moved from a closed to an opened position. A resilient latch means is attached to and biased toward the bottom wall member. A platelike flag member having an aperture therethrough receives the latch member in a journaled manner so as to cause the flag to be normally held in a retracted position. The latch means has a free depending end lying closely adjacent the closure means of the mail box so that when the closure means is moved to the opened position, the latch means is displaced in a direction away from the bottom wall member to thereby permit the flag to be released and fall into a vertical position with respect to the horizontal bottom wall of the mail box. When in the actuated vertical position the flag can be visually observed from a considerable distance.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a mail box signal which visually indicates the arrival of mail as a result of the mail box door being opened.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a visual signal device which can be easily attached to a mail box and which is extended when the closure means of the box is opened.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a flag which is automatically extended by opening movement of a mail box closure means and which can be manually retracted.

These and other objects are attained by the provision of a resilient latch means which is placed in underlying relationship with respect to a mail box and which includes a flag or signaling device journaled thereto, and the flag is capable of pivoting from a retracted to an extended position when the mail box closure means is moved to the opened position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view which shows a rural mail box having a mail box signal associated therewith and with the flag of the signal being illustrated in the retracted position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of part of the assemblage seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 1, but with the signal means being shown in the actuated or extended position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of part of the apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a part cross-sectional view which shows a modification of the apparatus disclosed in the foregoing FIGS. and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As seen in the drawings, the present invention embraces a mail box signal device 10 which, in its preferred embodiments, can be attached to a bottom wall member 12 of a rural mail box that has closure member 14 thereon. The signal device includes a flag 15 pivotally attached to and actuated by a resilient latch means 16. The flag is normally retracted as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, and is released or moved to the actuated position of FIGS. 3 and 4 when the closure member is moved to the opened position.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the closure member 14 is pivotally connected to a bottom wall member 12 by the illustrated hinge, in the usual manner. Spaced apart fasteners 19, which can take on several different forms, maintain the fixed end 20 of the latch means secured to the bottom wall member 12. A curved central portion 21 of the latch means is located intermediate a free depending end portion 22 and the before mentioned fixed end portion 20. The flag is of a flat planar configuration and includes a lower edge portion 23 and an upper edge portion 24 with the upper marginal edge portion receiving a bend so as to form a right angle for a purpose which will be hereinafter more fully described. Aperture 25 is located near the upper edge portion and receives an intermediate portion of the latch means therethrough with the latch means bearing against the upper portion of the aperture in the illustrated manner of FIG. 2.

As seen in FIG. 6, the resilient latch means can be in the form of a U-shaped member having means 120, formed therein for receiving a fastener means. A reversed bend 122 forms the free depending end of the U-shaped resilient latch means. The flag includes spaced apart apertures, one of which is seen at 125, for receiving the latch means therethrough. The free depending end of the latch means is upwardly bent as seen in FIG. 7 so as to cause opening movement of the closure means to contact and actuate the latch means, thereby permitting the flag to drop into the illustrated position.

It is contemplated that the mail box signal of the present invention can be attached to existing mail boxes, or alternatively, the signal can be incorporated into the mail box during the manufacture thereof. When assembling the mail box signal onto previously erected mail boxes, the resilient latch means is inserted through the aperture of the flag, and spaced apart apertures are formed in the bottom wall member of the box for receiving the fasteners 19. Fasteners 19 are tightened after the the holes have been located in a manner to assure that the free depending end 22 is adjacent the box closure means 14 as illustrated in FIG. 2, this relative location being necessary in order to assure that the box closure means, when opened, will contact the free depending end of the latch means in the illustrated manner of FIG. 4. After installation of the latch means, the flag is rotated from the position of FIGS. 3 or 5 into the retracted position of FIGS. 1 or 2. The flag is now ready to be actuated upon the closure means of the boxbeing moved to the opened position. It will be noted that with the flag in the extended position of FIGS. 3, 4, or 5, that the upper edge portion of the flag which forms the aperture supports the flag in a substantially vertically disposed position. In order to retract the flag, edge portion 23 is forced from the extended position of FIG. 4 into the retracted position of FIG. 2 by merely pivoting the flag by hand. It will be noted that when the flag is in the retracted position, upper edge portion 24 bears against the bottom wall member of the mail box while the curved central portion of the latch means bears against the upper portion of the flag which forms the aperture, thereby tending to cause edge portion 23 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction until it contacts the lower surface of the resilient latch means in the illustrated manner of FIG. 2. Hence, a moment arm exists between edge portion 24 and aperture 25 with the upward force of the latch means being of a sufficient magnitude to maintain the flag in the retracted position.

When the box closure means 14 is moved into the opened position of FIG. 4, the latch means of the flag is contacted by the box closure means and is sprung away from the bottom wall member, thereby permitting end portion 24 of the flag to be released whereupon the flag pivots about aperture 25 and into the position of FIGS. 3, 4, or 5. This action displays the flag where it can be visually observed from a distance, thereby indicating that the mail has been delivered or placed into the box, and accordingly eliminating many unnecessary trips to the mail box in order to determine the presence of mail therein.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7, the flag is provided with spaced apart apertures 125 which receive the resilient latch means 116 therethrough. The spaced apart legs 116 cooperate with the apertured flag by providing two spaced apart support means which secure the flag against yaw which would otherwise be present during windy atmospheric conditions should a single arm 116 be used for the flag support. The operation of the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 is otherwise identical to that of FIGS. 1 through 5.

lclaim:

1. ln combination with a mail box having a wall member to which there is pivotally attached a closure member, with said closure member adapted to be pivotally moved from an opened to a closed position and vice versa, the improvement comprising:

a flag having a top edge portion, a lower end portion, and

means forming an aperture through said flag;

an elongated resilient latch means having opposite end portions with one end portion being afiixed to a wall member and the other end portion freely depending therefrom; said free end portion lying in close proximity to said closure member and adapted to be sprung away from said wall member when the closure member is moved to the open position;

a portion of said resilient latch means being received within the aperture of said flag to thereby form a journal which enables said flag to be moved from a retracted to an extended position; whereby:

said resilient latch means, when said flag is in the retracted position, bears against said flag so as to cause the top edge portion of said flag to bear against the wall member of the mailbox; and when said resilient latch means is moved by the closure means, said flag is extended and supported by said journal.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said resilient latch means is a sheet of a metal having a curved central portion, said aperture receiving a portion of said curved central portion therein.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said flag includes an outwardly turned portion which forms an angle at said top edge portion.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said resilient latch means is an elongated sheet of metal having a curved central portion, said aperture receiving a portion of said curved central portion therein; and said flag includes an outwardly turned portion which forms said top edge portion.

5. The combination of c arm 1 wherein said resilient latch means includes a curved central portion intermediate said fixed end and said free end; said portion of said resilient latch means which is received within said aperture includes at least part of said curved central portion.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said resilient latch means is an elongated rectangular metallic member.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said resilient latch means is a U-shaped member having spaced apart legs, the depending ends of said legs being said fixed end, and the reversed bend thereof being said free end; said flag having spaced apart apertures with one said leg being received through one said aperture. 

1. In combination with a mail box having a wall member to which there is pivotally attached a closure member, with said closure member adapted to be pivotally moved from an opened to a closed position and vice versa, the improvement comprising: a flag having a top edge portion, a lower end portion, and means forming an aperture through said flag; an elongated resilient latch means having opposite end portions with one end portion being affixed to a wall member and the other end portion freely depending therefrom; said free end portion lying in close proximity to said closure member and adapted to be sprung away from said wall member when the closure member is moved to the open position; a portion of said resilient latch means being received within the aperture of said flag to thereby form a journal which enables said flag to be moved from a retracted to an extended position; whereby: said resilient latch means, when said flag is in the retracted position, bears against said flag so as to cause the top edge portion of said flag to bear against the wall member of the mailbox; and when said resilient latch means is moved by the closure means, said flag is extended and supported by said journal.
 2. The combInation of claim 1 wherein said resilient latch means is a sheet of a metal having a curved central portion, said aperture receiving a portion of said curved central portion therein.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said flag includes an outwardly turned portion which forms an angle at said top edge portion.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said resilient latch means is an elongated sheet of metal having a curved central portion, said aperture receiving a portion of said curved central portion therein; and said flag includes an outwardly turned portion which forms said top edge portion.
 5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said resilient latch means includes a curved central portion intermediate said fixed end and said free end; said portion of said resilient latch means which is received within said aperture includes at least part of said curved central portion.
 6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said resilient latch means is an elongated rectangular metallic member.
 7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said resilient latch means is a U-shaped member having spaced apart legs, the depending ends of said legs being said fixed end, and the reversed bend thereof being said free end; said flag having spaced apart apertures with one said leg being received through one said aperture. 